15-year-old Palestinian girl detained at Qalqiliya checkpoint for running in restricted area

Dec. 10, 2016 2:12 P.M. (Updated: Dec. 10, 2016 2:44 P.M.)

QALQILIYA (Ma'an) -- Israeli forces detained a 15-year-old Palestinian girl on Saturday morning at the 109 checkpoint south of Qalqiliya in the northern occupied West Bank, for allegedly running toward the checkpoint.

Witnesses told Ma'an that Israeli forces fired warning shots in the air before detaining Qalqiliya resident Nawras Ali Zamari,15, and taking her in for interrogation.

Israeli media quoted Israeli forces in a statement saying that Zamari was “wearing manly clothes” and was running in an area of the checkpoint that is banned for Palestinians, “while putting one of her hands in her pocket.”

The statement added that soldiers detained the teenager without harming her.

An Israeli army spokesperson told Ma’an they were looking into reports.

Since a wave of violence spread across the occupied Palestinian territory and Israel in October 2015, Israeli forces have detained, shot, and killed a number of Palestinians at checkpoints across the West Bank who forces claimed were attempting to commit attacks.

The violence has been largely characterized by alleged, attempted, and actual small-scale attacks committed by Palestinians against uniformed Israeli soldiers or police, mainly using knives or similar weapons, and in some cases shootings.

Israel’s response to attacks and alleged attacks -- both large and small -- such as punitive home demolitions, the sealing of entire villages, mass detention campaigns, and withholding the bodies of Palestinians slain while committing attacks, has been condemned by rights groups, who have said the measures amount to “collective punishment” and represent a clear violation of international law.